Watching single gold nanorods grow.

The consecutive evolution process of single gold nanorods is monitored using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The single-crystal gold nanorods investigated are grown directly on surfaces to which gold seed particles are covalently linked. The growth kinetics for single nanorods is derived from the 3D information recorded by AFM. A better understanding of the seed-mediated growth mechanism may ultimately lead to the direct growth of aligned nanorods on surfaces.